Dim lights flickered overhead as Cain walked deeper into the abandoned warehouse.
In the distance, laughing could be heard from several men. As Cain walked closer to the scarcely painted wooden door he adjusted his shirt, unbuttoning his top three buttons due to heat discomfort. Several men turned to face him as he entered the brightly lit room. Everyone greeted with handshakes and friendly hugs before sitting down around a large oak circular table. The room grew quiet as everyone settled down, waiting for Cain to speak.
"Let me just start off by saying thank you for coming on such short notice." Cain said as he unbuttoned the cuffs on his crisp shirt. "As you all know, the issue with Mitchell and his mistress, Roslyn is being taken care of." He motioned for the young man standing near the bar in the back of the room to bring him a drink.
"Aside from that incident and the recent weather issues I believe everything is going according to plan." Gulping down the scotch Cain could see a few of the men were uneasy about the capture of their fellow comrade.
"Cain, I mean no disrespect when I say this, but do you know for sure it was Mitchell?" Jacob said as he rustled his wet hair." Could David be wrong?" Jacob's face grew pale as he looked directly into Cain's eyes.
Cain saw the worried looks on his associates' faces, he did not want to upset them, but he didn't want to hide the truth from them either. "David has no reason to lie to me about Mitchell." He said in a somber tone, trying not to seem angry or upset."There is more than enough evidence to support this claim. Unless anyone has new information about this, nothing will be changed about it." He looked them over; the feeling of concern was heavy in the air."If you all feel that Mitchell didn't do this I will put their punishment on hold. I will give each of you a week gather evidence to clear their names. After that, well, they will not see mercy from me." The tone in his voice changed. He was angry, his comrades were second guessing his decision about the little rat and his whore. If they couldn't come up with a suspect in the next week they too would pay."Are we all in agreement?" Cain said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms as the men shook their heads in agreement.
"Thanks so much, Cain." Jacob said as he wiped sweat from his brow.
"No problem at all, Jacob."Cain reached for his scotch, downing it to ease some of the stress he was feeling."Now, let's get to the upcoming ball. Has everything been taken care of with our guests and their company? "He motioned the bartender for another drink as he unbuttoned two more buttons on his shirt, revealing slightly grayed chest hairs.
"Everything is going as planned, sir." Gavin, a slender thirty something Italian man said as he pulled out a beige folder from the black briefcase that sat at his side. "We have arranged for a special guest to join us as well. All that is left is that everyone purchases their outfits and show up." He said as he ran his slender fingers ran though his immaculate black hair. His eyes searched over the file in the beige folder he pulled from the briefcase."One more thing though, Cain," His voice broke in a fearful tone."We do not know about the current situation with Amihad. We've contacted his people, no word yet on the peace deal." He loosened the tie that seemed to choke up, making it easier for him to breathe.
The look on Cain's face showed his concern to his men, he was fearful. Amihad had been one of their closest allies, now he didn't know if they were friends or foes. The bitter fight over one of Amihad's slaves, June, broke their friendship apart. Cain only hoped this ball and their meeting could patch things up.
"Keep trying, please." Cain said as took a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the sweat off his brow. "Everything depends on us reconciling, if that doesn't happen I don't know what will happen to the council."
"Understood, I will keep trying to get in contact with Amihad." Gavin said as he took out a very small, mother of pearl encrusted container. Cocaine filled the container almost to the brim; obviously it was used a lot.
"Good," Cain said as he motioned the bar boy to him."I have a present for everyone. Cain whispered in the young man's ear, the boy nodded and went off into a back room.
